Mixed-Use Development Announced for Palms Neighborhood

L.A.’s Palms submarket has seen its fair share of turmoil but important changes are slated for the Westside neighborhood after a recent report announces a new mixed-use development. Frost/Chaddock Developers has announced that work has commenced at its $30 million Palms apartment community that will use the proximity of a planned Expo Line light-rail station as its hook. The Expo Line is a Los Angeles County Metro Rail line between Santa Monica and L.A.’s downtown area. Frost/Chaddock’s new residential complex has a construction deadline set for May 2014.

L.A.’s Palms submarket has seen its fair share of turmoil but important changes are slated for the Westside neighborhood after a recent report announces a new mixed-use development. Frost/Chaddock Developers has announced that work has commenced at its $30 million Palms apartment community that will use the proximity of a planned Expo Line light-rail station as its hook. The Expo Line is a Los Angeles County Metro Rail line between Santa Monica and L.A.’s downtown area. Frost/Chaddock’s new residential complex has a construction deadline set for May 2014.

According to The Los Angeles Times, the development was designed by Killefer Flammang Architects and will feature 115 residential units featuring studio and one-bedroom floorplans. Seventeen units will be designated as low-income housing, in keeping with the city’s initiative to deliver as much low-income housing to the market as possible.

Located at 3425 Motor Avenue, the five-story mixed-use development will feature street-level retail space and restaurants that will flank the entrance leading into a courtyard. Tenants will have access to a rooftop deck featuring a garden, as well as an underground parking facility. Aimed at young professionals willing to relocate to the Palms neighborhood, Frost/Chaddock’s new project is the second project of its kind to be announced in the submarket in a relatively short timeframe.

In 2012, the Westside Cities have had a completion rate that was far lower than recorded in the Greater Downtown area and Los Angeles. However the San Fernando Valley and South Bay both had extremely weak completion rates last year. With a number of projects in the pipeline for the Westside Cities, that rate should see some improvement in 2014 and 2015, with the strengthening market set to drive apartment projects forward.